We Meet Again
by Danielle of Airls
Summary: Okay, this is a Van/Hitomi fic. It's written after the end of Escaflowne and contains MAJOR spoilers. Anyways, Van and Hitomi are both lonely when something happens that will change their lives forever.......
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Don't own it, and never will unfortunately, because if I owned it, the ending would definitely NOT have been the same, and Allen would NOT have fallen in love with Hitomi, so there!  
AN: This story is written after the end of Escaflowne and contains some spoilers..... Please do not read if you do not want the end to be spoiled. Thankee..... Ps- This is my first time in this section, so you people tell me what you think!  
  
Van Fanel sighed heavily in his kingly chambers at the royal palace in Fanelia. He ran his hands through his blackhair in frustration. It had been 5 years since Hitomi had left Gaea for her home on the Mystic Moon. Five years since he had seen her beautiful smiling face. Five years since he had held her in his arms; his one and only beloved. After five years, he wanted her back in his arms again, he wanted to caress her face lovingly and smell her pleasant airy smell one more time. He fingered the ruby stone that hung around his neck, a painful reminder of the source of his hurt.  
  
Van looked out his window, his brown-eyed gaze falling upon the one thing that he did not want to see at that moment. A monument to the girl from the Mystic Moon named Hitomi Kanzaki had been erected in the town square, a daily reminder of the lonliness and despair that he experienced when he thought of those times. Over those five miserable years of separation, Fanelia had been rebuilt to its former glory and its surviving people had come home to start a new kingdom. Escaflowne had remained in a state of hibernation ever since that last battle in the Zaibach Empire, and it lay in the temple, safeguarded by stoic monks once again. Fanelia and Asturia had both signed an alliance pact with other countries, forming a sort of United Nations as Hitomi had described it. It had been her last act on Gaea.  
  
Van sighed again as he turned back to his chambers, answering the beckon of a knock on his door.  
  
"Yes?" he asked softly, his voice still hoarse from the public speech he had orated yesterday.  
  
A pink-haired head poked its way around the door, smalll ears pricking up at the sound of a baby's squall from the open window.   
  
"Van-sama, Allen-san wants to see you," Merle informed him rather unhappily. "I told him that you were busy, but he said that it was really important, so I came to get you."  
  
Van sighed for the hundredth time that day. "Inform my guest that I will be arriving as soon as I am decent enough to hold council with him," he replied, watching as Merle shut the door and hurried off to deliver the message. He walked over to his bed and pulled on the ceremonial cloaks that he typically wore as King of Fanelia. 'I hate wearing these,' he thought ruefully, 'but it is only the respect due to Allen-san as official envoy of Asturia.' He walked out of his chambers slowly, his usually quick gait hampered by the extra weight.  
  
Van walked into the meeting room, a large, domed room of marble with a crystal arch doorway.  
  
"What is it this time Allen?" he asked tiredly, staring at the Knight of Caeli, who seemed to be hiding something very amusing from Van.  
  
"Well," Allen started, an unbidden smile creeping across his face, "I think I have something that you might want to see."  
  
Van, interested, stepped towards the older man, when he saw Merle unconscious on the ground. "Merle!" he yelled, running over to her limp form, clothed in a short gown upon the insistence of Millerna-hime. "What did you do the Merle?!" he asked Allen angrily, subconsciously noticing that Allen had shifted his entire body so that his back was hidden from Van.  
  
"Nothing that I won't do to you," Allen responded, the smile on his face growing wider.  
  
Van glared at the man, standing up with the unconscious cat girl in his arms. "You will be dead before this day is over," he spat, his hoarse voice not helping to support the threat.  
  
"Will I now?" Allen asked, stepping to the right to reveal what had been behind him.  
  
Van's mouth fell open and he gaped at her, the one he had been waiting for for five years. All it took was the sight of light brown hair and soft, loving green eyes for him to pass out.  
  
  
Hehe..... Who do you think Van saw? Could it have possibly been...... Hitomi? Anyways, next chapter will be up soon, and it's already written...... Please R&R!!!! 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: NO I do NOT own Escaflowne or any of its little people running around being stupid.  
AN: Here's the next chappie! Have fun!  
  
Van Fanel came around, his eyes slowly coming in to focus to see a worried face topped with pink hair hovering over him. He tried to speak, but was silenced by the sight of another figure sitting by the door slumped over tiredly in a chair.  
  
"Hitomi-chan?" he ventured, disbelievingly.   
  
In the dark, two green orbs stared back at him, a small smile creeping over the figure's face.  
  
"Yes, Van," the figure responded, getting up from the chair, and walking over to the downed king on the bed.  
  
He sat up slowly, strength finally returning to his arms. He stared at her, denying with every fiber of his being that she was really there. His eyes traveled up and down her body, desperately clinging to the hope that this really was the one that he had been waiting for for so long. Her honey brown hair had been grown out to mid-back, but her eyes were still the same lively green as ever. His mind subtlely noticed the faint bruises and scrapes that covered her lanky form, and promised revenge on the one who had inflicted these hurts on his beloved for later. Despite all the minute changes, this was his Hitomi; his one and only Hitomi Kanzaki.  
  
A look of pure happiness lit up Van's eyes as the only tears he had ever shed in his entire life slid down his tanned face. His strong arms searched for the warmth of her, enveloping her in a bone-crushing hug. She returned the hug with equal force, her translucent tears falling to his cloaks endlessly.  
  
After long moments of hugging and sobbing, their emotions were finally spent and they separated to talk.  
  
Merle pulled the chair by the door over to the bed and smiled kindly. "I'll leave you two alone, and don't worry about dinner, it will be here later," she said as she walked out the door, closing it behind her.  
  
Van and Hitomi just stared at each other, neither breaking the silence that had been maintained since Merle had left the room. Van reached his hand out to touch hers lovingly, but the girl from the Mystic Moon flinched and pulled it back involuntarily.  
  
"Hitomi, daijoubu?" Van asked worriedly, seeing her reaction to his caring touch. Something horrible had happened to her when she was returned to the Mystic Moon, and the King of Fanelia had every intention of finding out what it was. The 20-year-old shook her head sadly. Whether this action was in response to his question or if she was banishing memories, he could not tell. "Something's wrong, tell me what it is."  
  
Hitomi opened her mouth as if to speak, but tears came flowing instead. She looked at Van, and that's when he saw it. He saw the lonliness, the despair, and the grief. Under it all was the faint flickering flame of hope that had once dominated her cheerful eyes.  
  
He reached out his hand and wiped away the tears that meandered down her cheeks in small rivers and pulled her into a warm embrace once again. Hitomi sobbed into his shirt, her tears washing away the more painful memories of the content of her life for the past five years. Van soothed her with soft noises as he rubbed her back comfortingly. Finally, the sobbing receded into hiccoughs, and then into a blissful sleep.  
  
When he was sure that she was asleep, Van got up and lifted her gently into the bed, taking care not to touch any of the visible bruises. He smiled at her lovingly and sat in the chair next to the bed, waiting for her to wake up.  
  
Hours and dinner passed without event, and the dawn found Van Fanel asleep at the side of Hitomi Kanzaki, his head resting on her chest.  
  
*****  
  
Hitomi woke with a slight pressure on her chest. At first she swallowed down panic, thinking that she was back on Earth again, that Fanelia and Gaea had just been one big dream, and she was now awaking to the hell that had been her life for the past five years. Then she saw him; her beloved Van Fanelia, with his head crowned with black hair resting there, his face covered with a blissful expression as he slept, dreaming about her. The sun was already high in the sky, half the day being wasting recovering from a late night.  
  
Hitomi sat up a little bit in bed, trying in vain not to wake the sleeping king, but failing miserably as his brown eyes opened to stare at her. She tried to smile, but her face faltered when she felt the familiar pain in her chest.  
  
Van's eyes transformed from loving to concerned in mere seconds. He braced her as she coughed relentlessly, the sickness racking her feverish body.  
  
"Hitomi! Daijoubu?!" Van asked, highly concerned after her coughing had gone on pause for a moment. When she didn't say anything, he prompted, softer this time, "Daijoubu?"  
  
Hitomi nodded her head weakly, still fighting down further coughing. The sickness was creeping up on her again, and she had to fight it. When she thought that she finally had it under control, she ventured to speak. "Is Millerna-hime here?" she asked calmly, trying to convince Van that she was okay.  
  
"Hai," Van replied, the worried look still in his eyes. "She's here representing Asturia at the talks. Do you want me to go get her? Because if you do, the answer is no." Hitomi searched his eyes for a change in emotion, trying to find out what had prompted this response. Van, seeing this, smiled. "Because I don't want to leave my fallen angel all alone in here," he said softly, stroking her hand slowly.  
  
Hitomi smiled at him, her eyes lighting up at his praise. "Ai shiteru, Van," she said hoarsely.  
  
"Ai shiteru, Hitomi," he said huskily. The two 20-year-olds leaned in towards each other expectantly when the door burst open, a figure silhoutetted in the door frame.  
  
Wow! That was fun to write! Who would dare interrupt Van and Hitomi? I don't know, but whoever it was is gonna get it big time from Van next time....... 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Did you really think that I owned Escaflowne? Well, I don't......  
AN: This is a very.... interesting.... chapter, but I had to write it as an intermediate chapter between the "intro" and the "plot". I hope you like!  
  
The two sprang apart like frightened rabbits, blush coloring their cheeks bright red.  
  
"Van-sama!!" Merle yelled happily, throwing her arms around his neck to lick his face. "I'm so glad that you're awake! I was so bored!"  
  
Van hugged Merle back akwardly, still staring at Hitomi lovingly. She smiled back weakly, and lay down staring at the ceiling ponderously.  
  
"Merle-chan? Can you go get Millerna-hime for me?" she asked quietly, still staring at the ceiling. "She and I have some things that we need to talk about."  
  
Merle jumped off Van indignantly and made a face at Hitomi. "You think that just because you come back after five years, I should obey your every wish and command? I don't think so!" she half-yelled at Hitomi. "The only person I obey is Van-sama!"  
  
Van turned around and if looks were a weapon, Merle would be dead. "Go get Millerna-hime. Now," he said in a low and threatening tone to Merle. He laughed as the cat girl dashed out the door on all fours to go retrieve the princess of Asturia.  
  
"That was cruel, Van," Hitomi mock pouted, defending Merle for what must have been the first time in her entire life.  
  
Van smiled at her and laughed again. "Why did you want to talk to Millerna-hime?" he asked after his laughing fit had finally died down. When Hitomi did not respond, he added, "Is it because of that coughing you did earlier, or the scrapes and bruises all over your body?" She looked shocked. How did he know about those? "Didn't think I knew, did you?" he asked dangerously. "I hope you'll tell me about what happened while I was not there to protect you..." he trailed off, seeing the sadness in the carriage of her body and her eyes.  
  
Silence reigned until the door opened and Millerna walked in carrying a black physician's bag. "Hitomi? Is that really you?" she asked incredulously. The girl on the bed nodded, a small smile crossing her face at the memories of the hime. Then, becoming more serious, she added, "You said that you needed to see me? Merle seemed to portray that it was urgent."  
  
Van laughed heartily at the last comment and pulled a chair up to the bed for Millerna to sit down in. He had long since shed his cloaks so that doing such an action was not that stressful.  
  
"Well, Millerna-hime, I've been having this problem lately. You see, I get into these coughing fits, and then it just won't stop... And afterwards, my back aches like hell and I've been having this pain for the past five years, and it just won't go away," Hitomi told the physician/hime gloomily. "I wanted to know if there was anything you could do--" she was cut off by a fit of coughing.  
  
Van braced her again as she hacked away, the lining of her trachea taking severe damage from the loud, tearing coughs. It tore at his heart that he couldn't do anything to ease her pain... All he could do was sit there and try to comfort her in those moments of pain.   
When the coughing had finally subsided, Millerna-hime had a worried look in her eyes. She started to speak, but Van beat her to it.  
  
"What did you say your symptoms were?" he asked softly, a hint of enlightenment tinting his voice.  
  
"Coughing and unwarranted back aches," Hitomi groaned, rubbing her back furiously.  
  
"Take off your shirt," he ordered monotonously. Hitomi blushed and opened her mouth to speak, but Van cut her reply off with a demanding stare. "I said take it off now," he ordered coldly.  
  
Hitomi shivering with fear did as he had demanded and shivered as the cold air in the room touched her bare skin. She blushed as Van stared at her back.  
  
"What are you doing back there?" she asked, biting back a giggle as his fingertips unknowingly tickled her skin. "Millerna-hime is still in the room you know."  
  
Van came around to look at her strangely. He shook his head in frustration and went back to his examination. "Just as I thought," he sighed moments later when he had finished his examination of her back.  
  
"What did you think Van-sama?" Millerna asked mischeviously, flashing a suggestive grin at him. Van just glared back in response and turned back to Hitomi.  
  
"Hitomi, I want you to do something for me," he said softly. Hitomi blushed, her mind in the gutter. "Nothing like that," he said quickly, realizing what she was thinking. "I want you to focus all your energy and puch on your back as if you were trying to get something out that was stuck in there."  
  
Hitomi nodded unsurely and closed her eyes, doing just as Van had told her to. Sweat started to cover her brow and forehead and she bit her lip in concentration.  
  
Millerna watched on in awe as the girl's back started to pulse with a bright white light. Van just smiled expectantly. He knew what was coming.  
  
A scream erupted from Hitomi's throat as she fell onto the bed, two snow white feathered wing protruding from her bare back.  
  
AN: !!!!!!! Okay, so what happened there? I guess we'll find out in the next chapter...... Please R&R! 


	4. Chapter 4

Well, sorry about the long wait, but I gave up the Internet for Lent... I wrote a lot of chapters during that time though, so be happy! This chapter and the next one will take on a decidedly dark and angsty tone, but it will get happier soon! *hopefully* So just chill, and read this one and the next one, and then a plot just MAY start to form.  
  
Hitomi craned her neck backwards and her mouth fell agape in awe. There were two wings coming out of her back! 'Am I a draconian or something?' she thought, fingering the soft white feathers tenderly. She looked at Van inquisitively, and he smiled back lovingly.  
  
"Yes, Hitomi. Those are what the general public calls wings. That coughing that you were doing earlier was because the wings were making your chest feel constricted," he explained calmly, inwardly wondering why she had wings.  
  
Millerna just sat there dumbfounded by the events of the past ten minutes. Her mind had still yet to process what had just happened.  
  
Van turned to the stricken hime and said, "Millerna-hime, could you give us a few minutes alone? I need to talk to Hitomi. Alone," he added, a hint of kingly order in his voice. Millerna nodded in understanding and walked out of the small room, closing the door quietly behind her.   
  
Hitomi searched his emotionless face for any signs of hate or disdain. "What, Van?" she asked, curiously, a hint of submission in her voice, fearing his response.  
  
Van looked at her for a second and said, quietly, "How did you get those bruises and cuts?"  
  
Hitomi looked away and replied, even more quietly if it was possible, "You don't want to know Van. These past five years have been hell for me. You wouldn't believe the things I've had to go through... Without you..." Here she looked up at him, unwanted tears brimming in her bright emerald eyes. "Ai shiteru!" she cried, throwing her arms around him, sobbing.   
  
Van held her for a few moments, and then softly pulled her away, looking into her eyes seriously. "Hitomi, I can't do anything for you unless I know what happened!" he half-yelled, his voice restored after the amount of sleep he had gotten the previous night.  
  
Hitomi looked at him coldly and pulled away. "Fine! You want to know what happened?" she cried, wrapping her arms around herself. He reached out to her and she slapped his hand away. "Don't interrupt me, don't touch me, don't do anything to me until I'm finished then." Van nodded in disbelief.   
  
"It all started five years ago when I returned to Earth. Amano-senpai and Yukari-chan fell in love. I had expected that. I knew that she loved him and she knew that I loved you, or rather what they both believed avidly was a figment of my imagination. We all went off to college, Amano-senpai and I on track scholarships, and Yukari paid her own way in full." Hitomi smiled with nostalgia in her eyes. "And then--" her eyes darkened and Van noticed. He reached his hand out to her, and despite her warning, Hitomi grabbed it like a lifeline "--something that I hadn't expected happened. Amano-senpai suddenly lost his knack for running."   
  
"He blamed Yukari for everything and she believed him. Then... Then..." Here she clenched Van's hand tighter. "Then he started to beat her. I tried to interject because we all lived in the same apartment. Then he started to hit me, and Van, I believed every word he said. It was my fault that he couldn't run anymore, and one day... One day, it was my fault that Yukari had died."  
  
A small unbidden tear rolled down Hitomi's cheek and she squeezed her eyes shut against it. "She had been out on the balcony with him after I burnt the supper, arguing about how he shouldn't beat me. And then she slapped him. I heard it, and it was no ordinary slap, it was a real hard one. Amano-senpai threw her off of the balcony, and she died. I was to tell the police that she had jumped, and I listened to him. I listened to him because he said that he would not beat me any more if I did. And then he broke his promise and beat me more than ever. And he... And he... He raped me Van..."  
  
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOOOOO!!!!!! It took me forever to write that, but Yukari told me everything that happened, and I don't like to lie... so.... ya... Amano-senpai was just too hot and perfect to be that hot and perfect all his life. Poor Yukari... What happened to her you ask? Stay tuned to find out! 


	5. Chapter 5

There are no specific details of the rape in this story, so don't worry. Again, just a warning that this chapter is rather angsty and depressing, but from the next chapter on in, this story should take a lighter tone.  
  
Van's eyes widened in disbelief. Was this the Amano that Hitomi had told him so much about? The one that she had cried for all her time on Gaea? He unconsciously pulled her into a hug, soothing her as she just stared off into the distance.  
  
"Van, I couldn't stop him, and he just..." she broke off, almost unable to continue.  
  
"Shhh...... It's okay, you don't have to tell me the rest, Hitomi. I'm so sorry for not being there for you. I'm so sorry for making you tell me," Van replied, tears coming to his eyes, but not falling for the sake of Hitomi.  
  
"No, Van, you need to know the rest," Hitomi whispered hoarsely, pushing herself away from his embrace coldly. "My mom thought I was in love with Amano-senpai, so she gave her blessings when I asked her what to do after he proposed to me." Van stiffened, knowing, but not wanting to believe, what was coming next. "She told me that I would be foolish not to say yes. She didn't know about him, Van. How could I tell her that my best friend's boyfriend had killed her, was abusing me, and still hope to lead a normal life afterwards? I realized that I couldn't, so I didn't."  
  
"So we were married, and everyone thought that I was so happy with him, because he smiled at me, and I back at him. I smiled at him because I had long since learned that if I didn't pretend that everything was perfect between us, then I would be beaten for it. But I knew the real reason why he smiled at me. It had been so long since he had killed my hope, that I knew he was aching for more. The only thing that kept me alive, Van, was knowing that you were alive, but that's just the thing. How was I supposed to know that you were alive?"  
  
"I wished every living moment that I could see you again. It was that wish that kept me going. I had a friend at the drug store who would slip me birth control pills every now and then, and I took so many precautions to make sure that Amano-senpai didn't find out about them. He started to become more violent, hitting me for any and all mistakes that I made. If I overcooked his eggs, I was kicked on the shins. After a while, it became a normal part of my routine. Until that night."  
  
"I could tell that he was drunk. The house began to reek as soon as he stepped into the apartment. I ran swiftly to the stove and took the perfectly cooked beef stew off gracefully and flawlessly poured it into two bowls. Then I saw him. He had cuts and bruises all over the place, and I could tell that he had come off worst in a fight. That's when I saw it. The knife. He had a small pocket knife clenched in his right hand, and I could tell that he intended to use it on me."  
  
Van could do nothing but stare as he watched Hitomi's lips move up and down. He had long since ceased to be able to process any and all sounds that came out of her mouth. He saw the emptiness and fear in her eyes as she relived the horror. He should not have made her tell all this to him, it was too hard to watch her suffer so much from pain that she had lived while he was unable to protect her.   
  
"I dodged the first one, but the second one got me here," she said, lifting her left wing and gesturing to a large stripe scar on her side. "I couldn't defend myself against him, so I ran... And ran... And ran... I ran until my legs gave out, and then I ran some more, but I had nowhere to go, Van. Nowhere to take sanctuary. Nowhere to cuddle up in and just cry. So I went to the shrine of my old school, where I had first met you."   
  
"I prayed to everything there that I could get away from Amano-senpai, the one who had caused me so much pain and hurt. I prayed with all of my heart that I could see Gaea and you just one more time. I lived at that temple for a year, surviving on what the priests brought to me out of kindness. I learned some of the ways of the priestdom, and it was so calming and delightful. I could have stayed there for the rest of my life, but..." Hitomi trailed off, absently fingering a feather in her right wing. "That's when the sickness struck."  
  
"The priestesses did everything that they could for me, but even that was very little. I finally was taken to a nearby hospital and treated for malnutrition and an unknown virus. That's how he found me again. When a person lives at a shrine, it is very hard to find them because shrines do not keep records on computers, but hospitals do, and he knew how to get into those files. When he took me back, I knew that I had enterd hell once again when I saw the obvious disarray of an apartment left untended to in a year."   
  
"He beat me ferociously as I cleaned up, cursing me for all the trouble I had caused him. I apologized to him, Van. I apologized when he should have been the one apologizing to me. That night, I found the birth control pills, but he walked in on me while I took them, and that's when he realized why I wasn't pregnant. He yelled at me so loudly, that the neighbors knocked on our door. He simply told them that we had been watching a movie, and then went back to beating me. That night could not be called hell." Van smiled momentarily. Finally, a relief from the despair. "It was worse."  
  
"The next morning I ran away to the cliffs and I stood there, gazing unto the sea, and then, I jumped. I felt a warm light envelop me, and I thought that I had died. I was so happy that I could be separated from what I had called life for so long. When I felt a pair of arms pick me up, I cried so hard because I thought that he had found me again. I thought that I would never be able to attain peace within myself. When I finally awoke from my hazy state due to the force of the blows dealt to me before I jumped off the cliff, I cried for two days, because I realized that I was on Gaea. The gods had decided to finally favor me. And that's what happened to me, Van. That's why I have so many bruises and cuts, many of which you cannot see. Many of which I will never recover from," Hitomi finished, her eyes still staring off into a void, unchanging, and unemotional.  
  
Van just stared at her, his eyes unreadable. His anger was rising unchecked, and he knew that if Hitomi didn't stop him, this Amano guy would be dead before you could say 'abuse'.   
  
Hitomi finally looked up at him, cringing and waiting expectantly for the blow that would inevitably fall, for the words of hate and rejection that would follow her story. Instead, she was met by a callused hand caressing her face. Hitomi leaned into the hand, laying her own hand over it and closing her eyes.  
  
"Ai shiteru, Hitomi," Van said hoarsely, trying, unsuccessfully, to keep the shakiness out of his voice. "Always and forever," he said quietly, leaning in to kiss her.  
  
Awwwwwwwww..... Van and Hitomi together always and forever at last! YAY! There WILL be a plot soon, don't worry... It's just a slow-developing plot... ya... Anyways, do they finally share their first kiss, or do they get interrupted again? Stay tuned! 


	6. Chapter 6

Hey! Long time no write! School and all, ya know? Anyways here's the next chappie!  
  
Disclaimer: Don't think I've done one of these yet, but for L-E-G-A-L reasons, I must. DON'T OWN ESCAFLOWNE! Anyways, on to the story! Sally forth into my interpretation of Escaflowne!  
  
Their lips met softly, plying to each other perfectly. It was the first kiss that Hitomi had shared that she didn't regret having. There was no passion to the kiss, only compassion and love. A lone tear full of memories slid down Hitomi's cheek, more tears following. Neither of them noticed when, in a small flash of light, a glint of silver disappeared from Hitomi's hand.  
  
The two broke apart, two pairs of eyes staring into each other, both full of sorrow and love.   
  
Hitomi looked away, brushing the tears off her face, and said, with undisguisable sadness in her voice, "I'm so sorry Van. It's just that..."  
  
Van grabbed her hand and stopped it from wiping the tears away. He gently forced her to look at him, and see the tears flowing down his face as well. "Don't be sorry, Hitomi. I'm the one who should be apologizing. It's all my fault that I wasn't there to protect you," he said to her quietly, caressing her beautiful face, wiping the crystalline tears away.   
  
"Oh, Van, I missed you so much!" she cried, throwing herself into his welcoming embrace willingly, crying the tears that she had held back for so long.   
  
They stayed like that for long moments until a voice from the door interrupted them.  
  
"I'm sorry for not being there as well, Hitomi," Allen said, stepping away from the door into the light of the day filtering in through the window.  
  
Van and Hitomi sprang apart, blush forming on their cheeks, Van lightly glaring at Allen.  
  
"How long were you standing there?" he growled, wiping the tears off his cheeks angrily.  
  
Allen smiled sadly and replied, "Let's just say that I came to get you for lunch an hour early, which, by the way, is probably just starting. Your story took an hour." Hitomi attempted a smile, the tears still coursing down her cheeks. She failed miserably. "Oh and by the way, nice wings Hitomi."  
  
Van whispered in her ear quietly, and the girl pulled the wings back into her back, hiding them from view. The two twenty year olds dressed in modest clothing, Hitomi grabbing her shirt, and Van his ceremonial cloaks disdainfully. All signs of tears ever having been shed were erased from their young faces.  
  
"Where's lunch today Allen-san?" Van asked conversationally. He had a rising suspicion that it would be in the dining hall with all the politicians... Again. He wanted time alone with Hitomi.  
  
"In the courtyard gazebo, Fanelia. The politicians wanted to, and I quote, 'enjoy the air of a renewed Fanelia'." Allen replied, the humorous comment elliciting a small giggle from Hitomi.  
  
Van frowned. "What's so funny?" he asked. They were going on as if nothing had happened. In response to his bewilderment, Hitomi grabbed his hand and started to run to the end of the hall, where she just instinctively knew the courtyard would be.   
  
"That's what's so funny," she replied, pointing to the politicians under the gazebo with a group of women all lined up and looking impatient. She laughed heartily looking at Van's open mouth and shut it with the heel of her hand. "You didn't think they'd leave you alone when you have no wife or heir, did you?" she asked, amused.  
"How did you know?" Van asked suspicously.  
  
"Inside joke between Allen-san and I. You wouldn't get it even if I told you," she replied, still laughing at his predicament. "Come, love, let's go give them a piece of our minds."  
  
"But," he whined, pulling back like a small child that didn't want to go to the dentist. "I don't want to," he pouted.  
  
Hitomi glared at him and pulled harder, dragging him along. Van just sighed and complied, realizing no alternative.  
  
"Hello," he mumbled to his foreign ministers. "What do you need of me?"  
  
"Well, Your Highness, we have decided that you need to find a suitable queen to produce an heir of royal blood to take the throne upon your demise. These women have been picked out for you to choose from. Please choose--" he cut off as he saw Hitomi standing next to Van. "Hitomi? Hitomi Kanzaki?" he asked incredulously, drawing the attention and stares of the other politicians.  
  
"Hai, sir. I am Hitomi Kanzaki," she replied softly, uncomfortable under all those stares.  
  
"The girl from the Mystic Moon? The one who saved Gaea? You are one and the same, ne?" he asked again skeptically.  
  
"Yes, this is Hitomi Kanzaki, Senator Marin. I wish you would refrain from repeating yourself," Van replied calmly, slightly glaring at the senator.  
  
Senator Marin just gawked at Hitomi, still unconvinced that he could be looking at THE Hitomi Kanzaki. The other politicians walked over interestedly and copied Senator Marin.  
  
Hitomi squirmed uncomfortably under their scrutinizing gazes and latched onto Van's arm. Van blushed furiously, but made a show of letting the politicians know that he was taken. One of them noticed this and protested profusely against the idea.  
  
"Your Highness! You cannot marry a woman from the Mystic Moon! It is unheard of!" shouted a voice from the back of the group. "You do not even know her heritage, sir."  
  
"A draconian on the throne of Fanelia is also unheard of," Van replied firmly. "But have I not brought this formerly ruined kingdom peace and prosperity so far? Have I not followed your every orders, with the exception of a few innane suggestions? And, correct me if I'm wrong, but did my father not marry a draconian? Was that not also unheard of at the time? The King of Fanelia should be able to choose his own wife, ne? If I am to give this kingdom a future, then I must have a strong woman at my side, ne?"  
  
"But--"  
  
"No buts, sirs. No woman will be my wife unless it is Hitomi Kanzaki," Van finished with an air of kingliness in his voice.  
  
"And what if that Hitomi does not want to be your wife?" a smart ass woman from the back said acidly, fanning herself confidently.  
  
Van's eyes clouded over with anger as he prepared to storm over to the woman and give her a piece of his mind. He stopped when he felt a hand grip his arm tightly. The angry king turned around swiftly to meet the firm green eyes of the woman in question.  
  
"No," she said softly, ordering him to stop. Van stopped and his eyes softened, realizing that violence wasn't the answer. "Let me," she added, making his eyes widen. "Just kidding!" she laughed, making him laugh along with her.   
  
The politicians just looked on in mild confusion; what strange people they were! A woman from the Mystic Moon marrying the draconian King of Fanelia! What was the world coming to?  
  
After they stopped laughing a minute or so later, Van's face instantly turned more serious. "I meant what I said, sirs. Now, would you please excuse us, we will be eating lunch alone today," he replied firmly, pulling Hitomi along with him, Allen following discreetly after ordering a waiter to tend to the couple.  
  
The two walked for a distance before they settled in a small clearing surrounded by rose bushes.   
  
"Wow... These rose bushes are beautiful!" Hitomi exclaimed, marveling at the full buds carefully pruned and tended.  
  
"I have them brought fresh to my room every day," Van responded. "They remind me of you."  
  
Hitomi blushed and shook her head furiously. The blush soon faded however. "About that, Van. I can't marry you," she said sadly, a tear meandering down her face. Van just stared at her.  
  
"But, why not Hitomi?" he asked, hurt.  
  
"I wouldn't be being honest to you. You deserve someone who can give you their whole heart, and half of mine has been torn out by Amano-senpai. See?" she asked, holding up her right hand for proof. But the proof wasn't there. The ring was gone. "Where is it?" Hitomi asked, frantically searching the grass for it. "I have to have that ring!"  
  
"Why?" Van asked, trying to disguise his hurt.   
  
"Because... Because... It's my last reminder of Yukari..." Hitomi said softly, another tear involuntarily escaping her grasp and falling to the ground. "Amano-senpai burned everything else after her death. That ring was the one that she gave me after I came back from Gaea. It was supposed to be a friendship ring, but Amano-senpai took it off of my finger the day before our wedding, and he wed me with it."  
  
She finally got up, her search proving unfruitful. Hitomi looked to Van for some response, only to find his face hidden from her view and his hand clenched around something.  
  
"What is it Van?" she asked timidly, knowing that he was hurt by her reaction to his "proposal".  
  
A tan arm inched outwards towards Hitomi with excruciating slowness. The palm of the hand attached opened slowly, revealing a priceless ruby pendant.  
"Van..." Hitomi breathed. "You kept it all this time?"  
"Yes," he replied shakily, trying to keep his voice steady. "I kept it as a reminder of you and what we meant to each other, but apparently I was wrong in my interpretation of this object. I suggest you take it back, as it may be of some aid to you in future travels."  
  
"Van, look at me," Hitomi ordered softly, raising his chin with her right hand. "I didn't say that I didn't love you. All I said was that I can't love you because all of me that was ever able to love was torn out in the past five years. You deserve a caring woman of royal lineage who can properly love you back. That person is not me," she explained softly, her eyes watering threateningly.   
  
Van's eyes stared back at hers, a lone tear traveling resolutely down his cheek. "But I love you, Hitomi. You said that you loved me back in the room, but now it's almost like you're a different person now. Ai shiteru always and forever, and that's all that should matter in the world."  
  
"And you can't just go calling me as yours like that either," Hitomi replied, beginning to get angry with Van. She couldn't be depressed for too long or it would start to get to her. That was one thing that she learned in the past five years. Why couldn't he understand that she couldn't risk losing the small part of her that could love? Why couldn't he understand that she was uncapable of giving that piece to him?   
  
"I thought you would agree," he replied, sounding a little confused at the change of topic.  
  
"We just went over this, Van!" she cried, the tears threatening more than ever to fall. "And you know better than to treat me like an object or a tool!" The memory of his wanting to use her as a tool for defeating Zaibach stabbed painfully at Hitomi's heart.  
  
"I didn't!" Van replied vehemently, all sympathy   
and hurt forgotten in rage.  
  
"You were just using me to get away from all of your wordy politicians!" Hitomi yelled at him, sprinting off into other parts of the gardens, away from Van.  
  
Van just stared after her, clenching the hand that held the ruby pendant into a tight fist.   
  
"You know, Van, you really didn't ask her whether or not she wanted to marry you," a voice from behind him said wisely.  
  
"What would you know about it Allen?" Van spat. "You kissed her when you didn't even love her!"  
  
Allen stiffened visibly, his jaw tightening at the memory. "I was under the control of Zaibach. You would've done the same if you were in my shoes at the time," he replied bitterly, walking off to leave Van with his lonely thoughts.   
  
DID YOU LIKE IT? I didn't like this chapter that much, but it's introducing a conflict between Van and Hitomi which, yes, DOES signify the coming on of a PLOT! Yes, people, the dreaded P-L-O-T word... Stand by for the next chapter!  
PS- It may not be up for a while because I have a band trip to go on until Sunday and about 3 projects to finish up, but please do stand by. 


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